1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a therapeutic extract derived from plant biomass for use in regressing cancerous tumors and/or for anti-inflammatory effect and, specifically, to a pharmacologically active compound extracted from the indigenous Jamaican plant Ball Moss (Tillandsia Recurvata) that has beneficial activity principally in destroying cancer cells.
2. Description of the Background
There is great growth in the overlapping fields of biology, technology, and medicine, including remarkable advances in cellular biology that have given a new understanding of the molecular basis for some diseases. Nevertheless, the incidence of some forms of cancer continues to rise. This is particularly true of breast cancer, a leading cause of death in women. Considerable effort has focused on the early detection of cellular transformation and tumor formation in breast tissue.
The increased focus on cellular biology has led to a profusion of drugs to treat cancer patients are drugs, which more or less directly target the growth mechanism. These drugs include alkylating agents, intercalating agents, antimetabolites, etc., most of which target DNA or enzymes regulating the DNA duplication and elongation process. However, rapidly growing tumors do not always exhibit high levels of cell proliferation, but may also exhibit low levels of cell death compared to the normal cell population from which these tumor cells issue. For these types of rapidly growing tumors, the mentioned drugs are not effective. In addition, the great majority of the drugs currently available for treatment of cancer are toxic and involve detrimental side-effects on healthy cells, tissues and organs.
The high-technology approach has obfuscated many promising therapeutic drugs derived from natural origins. A successful anticancer drug should kill or incapacitate cancer cells without causing excessive damage to normal cells. This ideal situation is achievable by inducing apoptosis in cancer cells without undue side effects, and organic drugs are well-suited. Apoptosis is a programmed cell death initiated by the nucleus. Apoptosis is a mechanism of cell death that incurs little or no inflammatory response. Currently, radiation is effective in producing cell death by apoptosis but is dependent on dose rate as well as ionization density, and this subjects other non-tumor cells to radiation risks.
Natural products are the most consistently successful source of drug leads. They are likely to continue to be sources of new commercially viable drug leads. Plants supply most of the active ingredients of traditional medicinal products. Advances in the treatment of cancer will require the continued development of novel and improved chemotherapeutic agents.
Therefore, there remains a need in the art for finding organic anti-cancer drugs that overcome at least some of the above-mentioned drawbacks.